Kevin McHale was a great player, but it's time for him to go

November 20, 3:02 PMMinneapolis Sports ExaminerKyle McNary

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          Kevin McHale (bleacherreport.com)

Kevin McHale, the post player with a million moves needs to make one more: out the door as Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations.  

The easiest thing in the world to do is to criticize, but it's so darn easy when discussing the Timberwolves.  Coach Randy Whitman's crew is off to a 2-8 start after winning last night against the Philadelphia 76'ers; three weeks after their only other win this season.  Unless something unforeseen happens, the Wolves will end up under .500 for the fourth consecutive season.  

The Wolves have some solid players like Al Jefferson, Mike Miller and Randy Foye, and some players with potential like Kevin Love, but no team in the history of the NBA has won a title without a few freaks (the good kind) on the roster, and the Wolves have none.

Unfortunately, Minnesota may never see a basketball championship again (the state won a few with the old Minneapolis Lakers).  The Wolves may have had their only chance in '03-'04 when they lost in the Western Conference finals to the L.A. Lakers.  That team had one freak, Kevin Garnett, and a solid surrounding cast of Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell and Wally Szczerbiak.  But, the Wolves lost in six games, and have never been close to a successful playoff run again.

The next season, after the Wolves started slowly, McHale fired his buddy Flip Saunders, the only truly successful coach in Wolves history, and finished the season as the coach  himself, doing okay.  Dwayne Casey followed and struggled, and Randy Whitman has taken struggling to a new level.

Kevin McHale has drafted good (Garnett) and bad (Ndudi Ebi), and knows the game, but he hasn't won, and in the end that's what counts.  Only in Minnesota could someone be so unsuccessful and keep their job.

With the lottery system in the NBA, losing doesn't in any way guarantee a can't miss player the following year, so the future doesn't look bright for Wolves fans.  Hopefully the team will play with more fire, and approach .500 at home, but it's going to be a long, long season.  Possibly McHale's last season.